1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outboard motor including an oil pan having an improved structure.
2. Related Art
The outboard motor is generally stored in a state in which the outboard motor is tilted up about a tilting axis of a bracket assembly at a time when the outboard motor is not used. However, in an intermediate or large sized outboard motor having a heavy weight, such tilt-up operation is performed electrically by using a power-tilt and trim (PTT) system equipped to the outboard motor.
On the other hand, a small sized outboard motor is not provided with such PTT system, and the tilt-up operation is performed manually by an operator. However, even such an outboard motor has a relatively heavy weight, and in certain cases, it is difficult to manually perform the tilt-up operation by hands. In order to obviate such defect, there is also provided an outboard motor equipped with an assisting apparatus or device, for example, a gas-assist cylinder device, for assisting the manual tilt-up operation such as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open (KOKAI) Publication No. HEI 7-81682.
However, the equipment of such assist apparatus results in increasing in the entire weight of the outboard motor and manufacturing cost, while the tilt-up operation may become easy.